It's interesting to hear how the lead vocal is accompanied by harmony almost the entire time. Yet, the harmonies are mixed in with the full track to be barely noticeable most of the time. Well, I mean, barely noticeable to the casual listener which is different for for those of us who perform, record and mix.
To me it does sound like the harmonies are hard pitch corrected and the lead vocal is tightly doubled with gentle pitch correction in selective places,... a lot of selective places.
I don't hear a lot of over compression on the vocals but it was likely volume automated, along with good mic technique from a well trained vocalist to keep it in front just enough.
This comparison also helps me hear how the music track has just the right EQ gap for the particular vocalist. That's something I really need to work on. It doesn't sound so much like it was EQ'd to make it fit but more like the proper instrumentation naturally left that space for the vocals. Near the end the vocals and music start to blur a little which increases activity to keep interest. But by then the vocal lines are pretty much embedded in the brain to the extent that the music does not cover them up.
Of course I'm guessing at all of this.
BTW, my opinion of this song; It's a terrible song done very well. A song like this would never be in my set list. Did someone mention this is Modern Country? I would say, it's a pop song about love and booze with a resonator solo. Not enough elements to qualify for Country and overwhelming pop elements. This is the kind of song that gets me to switch radio stations. Oh, I appreciate the professionalism, talent, all that. It's just not for me and I don't really enjoy it. It doesn't get me to sing along.
But, I can learn a lot from it that's for sure.


Does the noise in your head bother me ?